#amrev250

Throughout 2026, I will be drawing a series of various American Revolution figures, events, and battles. The purpose of this project is to illustrate the many lived perspectives and experiences of people 250 years ago, and the importance of confronting the whole story: the good, the bad, the inspiring, and the tragic.

First in this series is William Flora! Flora was a free Black man who went on to serve in a Virginia militia during the American Revolution, siding with the Patriots. During the revolution, many free and enslaved Black people chose to support the British due to various promises of better treatment and, if fortunate, freedom. Flora's reasoning for choosing the Patriot side is unknown, and he fought in the American Revolutionary War for at least three years. During his service, he became most known and respected for his defense of Fort Murray in the Battle of Great Bridge (December 9th, 1775). During the battle, Flora remained as the last sentinel on one of the final defensive fronts, even as British troops quickly approached. He would also serve in other famous battles such as the Battles of Brandywine, Monmouth, and Yorktown.

After the war, Flora purchased land in Portsmouth, Virginia, becoming one of the first free Black people in the state to own town property. He remained a respected member of the community and owned a successful business up until his passing in 1819.

(+ anyone who’s interested)!

America 250 is making me mad so in spite of it I’ve made a quote-unquote “assignment” for those who would like to participate.

This one is focused on the indigenous people in early America but if people are clearly participating, I’ll gladly host another one for a different topic later!

Pick one of the topics listed below and write at least one paragraph on said topic. Any topic with italicized words underneath must have said italicized words incorporated into the paragraph.

Then, do one work (ex. Digital/physical artwork, writing, etc.) relating to the topic.

Tag under “#Amrev250”

- [ ] Powhatan

- [ ] Patawomeck

- [ ] French and Indian War

- [ ] Proclamation of 1763

- [ ] Pontiac’s War

- [ ] Gnadenhutten Massacre

- [ ] Stockbridge Indians

- [ ] Iroquois Confederacy

- Oneida

- Tuscarora

- [ ] Sullivan Expedition

- “Conotocarious”

- [ ] Nancy Ward

- [ ] Treaty of Fort Stanwix

- [ ] Joseph Louis Cook/Akiatonharónkwen

- [ ] Joseph Brant/Thayendanegea

- [ ] Robert Hersh

- [ ] Joseph Paugenit

- [ ] John Wampee

- [ ] Nonhelema

“Just Another Legacy or Benedict Arnold?”

“__________ does have a great record, but so did Benedict Arnold”

“... are latter day equivalents of Benedict Arnold”

The name “Benedict Arnold” has become synonymous with traitor. The three quotes above are the titles of news articles from the past year. It is a bit cruel actually. To reduce someone’s life, and cast away their toil and accomplishments, in favor of remembering one of their darkest moments, yet it is what was done with Benedict Arnold. His life and legacy is the reflection of human empathy and why it is so important to study history.

Benedict Arnold V was born in Norwich, Connecticut, to successful businessman: Benedict Arnold III. However, his life would go rapidly downhill as most of his siblings died in infancy, his mother turned to the church to cope before passing in 1759, and his father would drink away the family’s money and more importantly- Arnold’s future. Despite losing out on an education at Yale College and being left saddled with the burden of taking care of his father and sister at 18, he would still work to educate himself and eventually start his own business as a trader. He would go on to marry Margaret Mansfield and have three sons with her. Though their relationship would become distant as Arnold would be away at sea and later in 1775, away at war, his love remained unshaken until her death in the same year while he was fighting at Ticonderoga. He would go on to have an impressive military career and take part in decisive battles such as the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, Battle of Quebec, Battle of Valcour Island, and Battle of Saratoga. Even with all this under his belt, he would never receive compensation and little recognition from the Continental Congress. This, in addition to some alleged convincing done by Peggy Shippen, his second wife and loyalist noblewoman, would lead him to come into contact with British Major and Adjudant General, John Andre who would work with him in an attempt to deliver West Point to the British for £20,000 and a rank as Brigadier General. Though, Andre would be caught on his way to the HMS Vulture and Arnold would flee to avoid being caught. He would be given his rank and money by the British but would remain disdained by them for the rest of his life. He would participate in the Richmond Campaign in 1781 which would earn him the ire of George Washington for the devastation he left behind. It would come to an end when he regrouped with British General Cornwallis whilst being pursued by the Marquis de Lafayette leading the Continental forces. There, he would advise Cornwallis to move elsewhere other than Yorktown due to its vulnerability to a siege but he would be dismissed and never see battle again. He would move to Canada briefly but would eventually head to England and live out the rest of his days in London. There, he would die after experiencing four days of delerium from edema caused by the wounds he sustained in battle.

In many ways, Arnold embodies the average American if not just person generally. Someone who was sold the dream of working hard to do well for themselves and obtaining the blessings of liberty that was promised to them and their posterity; only to watch their chance at such a fantasy be gambled away right in front of their eyes by those who are supposed to speak on their behalf. Left feeling bitter and betrayed, he would partake in a rash decision that would give the perfect excuse to the Congress to demonize and cast him as “other.” Such an image would be pushed onto future generations to tarnish a legacy and erase the true events from public memory. If the public does not remember, it will allow for these same things to occur time and time again. Each time, we will be dumbfounded as to what happened as it all goes to rot.

This field of study is what we call history. Many famous philosophers have said something along the lines of “we must learn history to never repeat it” but seldom is it fully comprehended. History is not just any story but the story of humanity. Studying it reveals patterns which humans are very good at recognizing. The takeaway from Benedict Arnold’s story can be the lack of empathy we as humans have for each other. Arnold was an individual who could’ve walked among any of us had it not been for the separation of time. He felt the same things we did and even acted accordingly. If his name were to be replaced by the word “he” in the first passage and read by someone else, it may have aroused sympathy from the most staunch of his critics. Yet Arnold is antagonized to no end with his very name becoming a word for a “traitor.”

If this is how we treat those who are no longer with us, how do we treat each other?

Artist Unknown

Informal Citations

@feis-historical-days

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Arnold

The third installation for my year-long series. My 7th year drawing him on his birthday. Happy 270th birthday, Aaron Burr.

First secretary of the U.S. Treasury, military leader in the Continental Army, accomplished lawyer and Broadway famous. Alexander Hamilton needs little introduction, and as January 11th is his birthday, I determined he would be next in this series.

During the American Revolutionary War, Hamilton fought in several key battles, such as the battles of Trenton, Princeton, and Yorktown. I've tried to picture him in Princeton, which took place in January of 1777, though it could be interpreted as any barren backdrop.

The fun thing about his birthday is that he was either born in 1755 or 1757 – records are unreliable, historians are uncertain, and perhaps we'll never know how old he actually was. At the very least, people are mostly certain on that Jan. 11th day.

Hamilton was known for being deeply opinionated, ambitious, and stubborn, and prolific. There was rarely a dull moment in Hamilton's life, and for both good and bad, he deeply impacted the early U.S.

My sincerest apologies for getting to this like a month later. Late November - mid December is one of my busiest times of year 😔

My art style is a little different because I drew this on an actual tablet with a stylus rather than my phone like the rest of my art is usually drawn.

Disclaimer: I couldn’t fit even HALF of what he’s done so take this more as a jumping off point than the full picture.

Like all historical figures, he’s incredibly nuanced and it’s important to keep that in mind. Nobody in history is “bad” the same way that nobody in history is “good.” They are people like us. They are not saints. Do not judge them as pillars of virtue.

Most people know founding father Alexander Hamilton from the popular broadway musical: Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda. While the musical has most definitely increased renown for him, it also has perpetuated misinformation and is a classic example of how pop culture flattens historical figures.

To preface, I am not saying Hamilton is a bad musical. It is arguably masterfully crafted by its creator and it is what got me back into history but the issue arises when it is viewed as an accurate source for historical information rather than a piece of the art it is. Too often people have said things along the lines of “studying by listening to Hamilton,” but doing so will leave you with a poor understanding of not only the time period but the people mentioned in the musical itself because it provides a sliver of a perspective and flattens the characters.

Hamilton has the obvious problem of scope when it comes to the Revolutionary War and era that followed because it is a musical following only Alexander Hamilton. This may not seem like such a big deal but it is. The sheer number of people who have forgotten completely about figures like Paul Revere- arguably one of the most iconic figures of the whole revolution- just because they only use Hamilton as a source. Even if we cast that aside, it still has to cut out entire people from Hamilton’s life who had any relation to him because of how large his reach was. There is no mention of John Andre or Benedict Arnold and you can argue that both of them only had a brief impact on his life but then again there is no mention of many close friends of his like Richard Kidder Meade nor of his half-brother, James. It is historical fiction and like all fiction it must be simple to tell a coherent story in a strict timeframe. We can especially see this in the song “Aaron Burr, Sir” as there is the obvious point that the group didn’t meet all at once in a tavern in 1776. Hamilton only met Lafayette and Laurens in late 1777 when they joined the Continental Army and Hercules Mulligan probably never met the Marquis de Lafayette historically. Though that is a rather obvious point that most people have most likely figured that out, it still is a clear sign that Hamilton cannot be considered an accurate source of history.

Speaking of condensing things, Hamilton has the further problem of simplifying its characters to the point where it becomes inaccurate in order to tell a clear story. The characters who are hit hardest are the antagonists such as Samuel Seabury, Aaron Burr, and Thomas Jefferson. Seabury and Hamilton never had a face-to-face debate in real life. It was done over a series of pamphlets from 1774-1775 with both using pen names to remain anonymous. However, it was accurate in the fact that Seabury was a staunch loyalist- but the musical was not so kind to Burr and Jefferson. Jefferson was nowhere near as outspoken, much less as comically evil, as he was portrayed. Using Jefferson, the musical simplifies the political climate at the time as “Federalists good, Democratic-Republcians bad” with Hamilton’s triumph over Jefferson at any turn being seen as a good thing. This is not true to any extent. The politics at the start of the American experiment were just as convoluted as they are now. There was no “good” political party and Hamilton wasn’t a saint in his politics who was righteously fighting off the evil Jefferson and two-faced Burr for the sake of the country.

Overall, I believe Hamilton suffers from the things that most historical media does and its mainstream popularity only amplifies the issue. Though, I am not against historical media. I do enjoy consuming it myself and believe that it is an excellent gateway to a real interest in history. But I do think that there should be some sort of warning that is put at the start because otherwise there is a very real possibility that has and will continue to happen: people will take what they see as fact rather than recognize fiction. It is important to recognize that historical figures were real people just like us and are multifaceted in their lives, views, and actions. The people in Hamilton are no exception to this.

Left: Portrait of Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull 1792

https://crystalbridges.emuseum.com/objects/1567/portrait-of-alexander-hamilton

Right: Hamilton logo made by the design firm Spotco in collaboration with Lin-Manuel Miranda

“Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general Favor; a long Habit of not thinking a Thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of Custom. But the Tumult soon subsides. Time makes more Converts than Reason.”

That is how Thomas Paine begins the pamphlet which would fuel the revolutionary fervor and want for independence in the American colonies.

To begin, there must be a brief background on who Paine is:

Thomas Paine was born on February 9th, 1737 in Thetford, Norfolk, England to parents Joseph Pain, a former Quaker from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Elizabeth (Cocke) Pain, who was the daughter of an attorney in Thetford. Thomas Paine was educated at the Thetford Grammar School. After his education, he involved himself in various careers before immigrating to Philadelphia in 1774. After a tumultuous journey across the Atlantic, he would go on work for the Pennsylvania Magazine where he proved himself to be an ardent patriot. During the years of the revolutionary war, he published two influential pamphlets: Common Sense and the American Crisis. He would go on to be elected to the National Convention in France after the American revolution and narrowly escape being executed during the Reign of Terror for being a moderate. He would only return to America in 1802, with President Jefferson’s invitation. He’d pass away in 1809 at the age of 72. He would be remembered for a long time as a man who “did some good, and much harm” as the article from The American Citizen described him.

Now, to get onto Common Sense itself: Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet to convince the American colonists why freedom from Great Britain was imperative. He wrote directly, in such a way that made his arguments much more accessible to the average person. His goal was to shift public opinion in favor of independency from rather than reconciliation with Britain.

He lays out that government is a “necessary evil” by saying: “Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.” There was a necessity for a government of some kind but a government shouldn’t be the kind where a single man has the ultimate power. For that kind of ruler would have “little more to do than make war and to give away places.” Instead, Paine advocates for an egalitarian, republican government based on popular sovereignty. One which would guarantee individual freedoms.

After all, like Paine says in the pamphlet itself: “a government of our own is a natural right.”

Common Sense, Thomas Paine

https://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/1776-paine-common-sense-pamphlet

Informal Citations

https://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/1776-paine-common-sense-pamphlet

https://study.com/academy/lesson/thomas-paine-common-sense-and-the-crisis.html

https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/commonsense/themes/

https://www.amrevmuseum.org/read-the-revolution/common-sense

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cocke-227

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pain-72

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine